diff --git a/server/embed/serve.go b/server/embed/serve.go
index e50529dfe438..6227b188332e 100644
--- a/server/embed/serve.go
+++ b/server/embed/serve.go
@@ -476,6 +476,20 @@ func (ac *accessController) ServeHTTP(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request)
 		rw.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 		return
 	}
+	// Limit the request body size to prevent memory-exhaustion DoS via the
+	// gRPC-gateway JSON decoder (which base64-decodes fields before any
+	// server-side size check).
+	maxBytes := int64(ac.s.Cfg.MaxRequestBytesWithOverhead())
+	// Fast-reject: if Content-Length is known and oversized, return 413
+	// immediately without reading any body bytes.
+	if req.ContentLength > maxBytes {
+		http.Error(rw, "request body too large", http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge)
+		return
+	}
+	// Safety net: cap the readable bytes for cases where Content-Length is
+	// absent, zero, or lies.  The JSON decoder cannot allocate unbounded
+	// memory once MaxBytesReader is in place.
+	req.Body = http.MaxBytesReader(rw, req.Body, maxBytes)
 
 	ac.mux.ServeHTTP(rw, req)
 }
diff --git a/tests/e2e/v3_curl_kv_test.go b/tests/e2e/v3_curl_kv_test.go
index f98e61453410..9003c12df0be 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/v3_curl_kv_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/v3_curl_kv_test.go
@@ -15,8 +15,15 @@
 package e2e
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	protov1 "github.com/golang/protobuf/proto" //nolint:staticcheck // TODO: remove for a supported version
 	gw "github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-gateway/v2/runtime"
@@ -212,3 +219,61 @@ func testCurlV3KVCompact(cx ctlCtx) {
 	})
 	require.NoErrorf(cx.t, err, "testCurlV3KVCompact failed")
 }
+
+func TestCurlV3KVOversizedRequestRejected(t *testing.T) {
+	e2e.BeforeTest(t)
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), 20*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	clus, err := e2e.NewEtcdProcessCluster(ctx, t,
+		e2e.WithClusterSize(1),
+	)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer clus.Close()
+
+	endpoint := clus.Procs[0].EndpointsHTTP()[0] + "/v3/kv/range"
+	client := &http.Client{}
+
+	t.Run("normal request succeeds", func(t *testing.T) {
+		smallKey := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte("foo"))
+		reqData := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"key":"%s"}`, smallKey))
+
+		req, reqErr := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, endpoint, bytes.NewReader(reqData))
+		require.NoError(t, reqErr)
+		req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+		resp, err := client.Do(req)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
+		_, err = io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("oversized request rejected", func(t *testing.T) {
+		largeKey := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(make([]byte, 2*1024*1024))
+		reqData := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"key":"%s"}`, largeKey))
+
+		req, reqErr := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, endpoint, bytes.NewReader(reqData))
+		require.NoError(t, reqErr)
+		req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+		resp, err := client.Do(req)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
+		body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		t.Logf("oversized request response: status=%d body=%s", resp.StatusCode, string(body))
+
+		require.NotEqual(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode,
+			"oversized request must not succeed")
+		require.NotEqual(t, http.StatusTooManyRequests, resp.StatusCode,
+			"oversized request must be rejected before full body decode (was 429 before fix)")
+		require.True(t,
+			resp.StatusCode == http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge ||
+				resp.StatusCode == http.StatusBadRequest,
+			"expected 413 or 400, got %d", resp.StatusCode)
+	})
+}